


Venting

by secreterces5



Series: Group Therapy For Child Protagonists/Good End Friends [2]
Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Don't Judge Me, Good End Friends, If this feels a tad shippy it’s because I kinda like the idea of these two getting together, Morty and Steven are trauma buddies, Other characters are mentioned and/or make a cameo, Pink Steven makes a brief appearance but it’s nothing serious, Stanford Pines - Freeform, Stanley Pines - Freeform, Steven Universe Future, Steven Universe Needs Therapy, Swearing, also Steven gives off big Jock Energy but only like... with his aesthetic, also a tag that’s understandable, at least not for now, but it’s not romantic, group therapy for child protagonists, i like that “Stan Pines swearing” is a tag lol, it’s like the opposite to the “Bad End Friends” thing, let Steven Universe say Fuck, other than that Steven is an absolute dork, rick sanchez - Freeform, that’s it, there’s lots of swearing that’s kinda what this is about, to be specific, with horrible relatives who’s messes they have to clean up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 08:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23468761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secreterces5/pseuds/secreterces5
Summary: When Morty first met Steven, he wasn’t really too impressed. To him, the guy seemed like a jerk, and both the jacket and the voice reminded him of jocks at his school, who bullied guys like Morty for no reason other than they felt like it. He wasn’t always in the same group therapy sessions as him, so he didn’t get to know much of his story, but after he heard parts of it, he added a side note that Steven was kinda badass to his definition of him and didn’t really care about him afterwards.But then, he got to meet him properly. And it was a weird experience.
Series: Group Therapy For Child Protagonists/Good End Friends [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1693804
Comments: 79
Kudos: 465





	Venting

**Author's Note:**

> Let Steven say “fuck.” If you agree with me, go watch JakeNeutron’s Shitiverse.  
> Also Steven is seventeen because I wanted to have some distance between SU’s finale and this, and Morty is sixteen. Also they have like… so much in common, except while Steven is a pure cinnamon roll with bottled rage and supportive family, Morty at this point is tired of everyone’s (especially his family’s) shit and has a body count with at least three digits, probably.

[(This story now has fanart! ❤️💜🧡)](https://goodendfriends.tumblr.com/post/614772044708593664/rannvadraws-the-idea-of-all-our-traumatized-sons)

  
When Morty first met Steven, he wasn’t really too impressed. To him, the guy seemed like a jerk, and both the jacket and the voice reminded him of jocks at his school, who bullied guys like Morty for no reason other than they felt like it. And even after spending some time around him, he wasn’t really compelled to change his mind about Steven. Sometimes, Steven could lash out at anyone for the smallest of reasons, and seeing him on other days act friendly towards everyone solidified his opinion that Steven should be categorized as “the popular kid” and that he wanted nothing to do with him. He wasn’t always in the same group therapy sessions as him, so he didn’t get to know much of his story, but after he heard parts of it, he added a side note that Steven was kinda badass to his definition of him and didn’t really care about him afterwards.

But then, he got to meet him properly. And it was a weird experience.

He’d later find it funny that on that day, they were both in the same group session. Unlike the one-on-one sessions which dealt more with the Why, Who and How of their problems, the group therapy was mostly so different young adults could share their palette of experiences, supernatural, interdimensional, you name it. Morty fought hard for his family’s consent on going here ever so often, because even though he obviously needed loads of therapy after spending so much time with Rick, his parents weren’t exactly certain if meeting with other “child protagonists” as Summer dubbed them (he’d never admit that they occasionally called themselves that too) was the way to go about it.

The way Morty saw it was that while he did like some of his trips with Rick, some of them let him mentally scarred, and he couldn’t just keep wiping his mind everytime something bad happened to him. Going somewhere where people were like him felt like a good way to find support, and he did find not only support but quite a few friends. He especially liked the Pines twins, Mabel and Dipper, as they were just a bit younger than him and, as it turned out, their great uncle knew Rick, so they had a lot in common to talk about. It’s why he always sat next to them. It didn’t matter if it was Mabel or Dipper, both of them were great friends and first to offer help whenever he found himself anxious or embarrassed. And boy did he get embarrassed a lot. The others usually had more family friendly adventures than him.

So when Morty heard the words “I’m here today because I killed someone” come out of Steven’s mouth, it caught his attention.

The black-haired boy was staring down at the floor and there was resignation in his voice. It sounded like he’d been preparing for saying this in front of people for a long time, but now that he did, he couldn’t bear all the stares it had earned him.

“I- I mean, it’s one of the reasons. But, you know, I could get over all the stuff my mom did. It was her, not me. I made my peace with that too, that she’d always be my mom, because I was convinced that I was not her. Most of the time, at least. But then once, in a fit of rage, I took a fight too far and… I shattered Jasper. And- and she’s fine! Because I revived her when I realized what I’d done!” he assured everyone hurriedly, “but now I’ve got to live with that. And my mom, she had a very strict rule against actually killing people. So I guess I’d outdone her at that.”

Most of the kids and young adults watched him in a shocked silence. Rarely do the groups have members who committed murder. But Morty was one of those with a body count ever since he was thirteen, and after a few years of traveling the universe, he was sure that he’d already forgotten (or forced himself to forget) most of them. He did remember how terrifying it was in the beginning, though, the knowledge that he took someone else’s life, and he found that he felt sympathetic for the kid who’d just experienced his first murder. Maybe that’s why he spoke up: “I’ve killed people, too.”

All the eyes turned to him now, and ugh, even at his age he still felt the stage fright settle into his lungs. “I-I-I mean most of you already know, but I don’t think you do, Steven,” he says, looking at the boy. For a second, he thinks his face looks too pink, but then it’s gone. Instead, his eyes watch Morty with surprise. “I know what it feels like, the terror, and the exhaustion afterwards, and every now and then, while doing day-to-day things, you think back to it a-a-and f-feel horrible because someone died and here I am making myself cereal with hot cocoa, y-you know?”

Steven never really noticed Morty much. To be fair, Steven didn’t really talk with other kids and teenagers at group therapy much outside of the actual sessions, even though everyone always stayed for the snacks they could have afterwards. That’s when he had multiple chances to chat, but other than some small-talk and offering support to those who had it the hardest at the time, he didn’t really feel like connecting with people. With time, he got to befriend a girl who reminded him a lot of Spinel named Mabel Pines, and a guy with a similar taste in clothes named Marco. But Mabel was a social butterfly and just like Spinel sometimes just too much to handle, and Marco usually went to sessions at different times than Steven did, so he didn’t get to talk with either of them too often or for longer than two minutes.

He didn’t feel like talking to any of the others and Morty Smith sometimes cast side glances at him like he did something bad to him, so Steven thought it best to let him be for the time being.

But now, listening to his own experiences, Steven felt a wave of relief wash over him. He wasn’t the only one. Actually, Morty said he’d killed _people_. As in, a plural, more than one person. And if his other stories are anything to go by, probably more than two or three. And he seemed to be coping well, but then again, maybe he’d just adjusted better. Or maybe he was a heartless psycho looking for his next victim. If that was the case, Steven felt as though he had been chosen to get kidnapped right then.

Most of all, though, Steven felt sorry that somebody else had to go through the experience of killing someone.

“In short, it sucks,” Morty said. “And dealing with it sucks, too, even if the person survives or comes back to life.”

“How do _you_ deal then?” Steven asks, and Morty has to think before giving an answer: “Well, you need to find solace in the fact that you’re not the only living being in the universe and other people bring something of their own to your decisions. Some people deserve it. S-some people are casualties, ‘bad place, bad time’ kind of deal. Some people provoke you and encourage really bad behavior until you break, and Jasper, from the sound of it, fits that category.”

He felt just a tad smug as he watched Steven’s eyes widen in realization. “...oh,” was all he said, and for a second Morty could feel the Being Smarter Than You™ brand of happiness that was scarcely ever present when he was with his family.

The rest of the session went by without much trouble, and when it was over, all the participants enthusiastically moved to the snack tables and scattered into smaller groups to chat. Out of curiosity, Morty glanced in Steven’s direction, and watched as the guy sat alone with a cup of water and nothing else like usual.

Why’d he ever peg this kid as a popular kid? He seemed like he should be the friendliest of the bunch, but he sure didn’t act like it.

“You should talk to him,” someone on Morty’s left side said and he let out a yelp in surprise. It was Mabel.

“Where’d you come from??” he said, his voice cracking.

“Not important,” she waved her hand dismissively, “but hey Morty-Torty, you should really talk to Steven! You’ve got loads of things in common!”

“Oh-oh yeah?” he replied, full of doubt, “like what? Committing murder?”

The girl with hazelnut brown hair rolled her eyes. “Like really bad parental figures! He spent his whole life fixing stuff his mom did and getting blamed for it, and he’s been to space but never traveled outside of the country. I feel like you could, you know… show some solidarity? Or something.”

He was about to refuse, but before he could even get a word out, Mabel continued: “Hey, you know that thing they do in How I Met Your Mother?”

“W-what thing-” But Mabel was already dragging him over to where the lone boy was staring into his cup of water.

“Hey Steven, haaave you met Morty?” And with that, she pushed Morty forward, gave a small mock salute and turned back to go find her brother.

The two boys stared at each other for about a full minute in awkward silence and surprise before Morty chuckled, rubbing his arm with his hand, and shrugged: “Sorry, I guess that’s Mabel Pines for you.”

“It’s okay,” Steven shook his head, “I met her a while ago and she’s just trying to make me be social.”

“So why aren’t you?”

Steven let out a huff, “dunno. I just don’t wanna trouble anyone, I guess.”

Morty considered these words with arms crossed over his chest, and then he sighed: “Mind if I sit with you?”

The guy who looked less and less like a jock and more like a lost puppy with every passing minute showed the same surprised expression from earlier, but said: “S-sure, why not,” so Morty grabbed a chair closest to them and dragged it next to Steven’s to sit in it.

“What are gems like?”

A surprised blink. “Why do you ask?”

“I’ve seen lots of aliens, maybe I’ve seen these too and just didn’t know their name,” he explained.

“Well, um. They’re basically all sorts of rocks that project bodies made of light, and they mostly look humanoid, but other than that they come in all sizes and colours. They all use the pronoun she when addressing themselves. And they’re all really… really nice when given the chance.”

Morty snorted at that and his smile turned bitter. “Definitely don’t know those then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most aliens _I_ met were giant assholes. But maybe that’s because I’m always traveling with a giant asshole so, you know, birds of a feather flock together.” For a while, Steven stayed silent after that, and Morty turned to look at him and saw him staring wide-eyed right back. He sure got surprised by a lot of stuff. “What?” he asked.

“You swear a lot.”

“Pff, what? I said _two_ swear-words. We’re seventeen, isn’t that just part of being a teenager?”

“I wish I knew,” Steven said, disappointment apparent in his voice.

“Woah, wait. Don’t you curse from time to time?”

“No! Wait, should I?”

“Well I mean, no, I guess, but… it helps when you need to vent,” Morty said, and then with a raised eyebrow added: “Are you saying that you don’t swear? Ever?”

“Never! Why’s that such a big deal?” The shock on Steven’s face was ridiculous. “Is that a human thing? The only person who ever really cursed around me was this guy named Lars, I just thought it was inappropriate–”

“Well y-you know what, screw inappropriate, you should try swearing when you’re mad. This-th-this isn’t like… professional advice or anything but it helps _me_ feel better and Mabel says we have things in common, so maybe it could help you?”

”Huh.” Steven looked like his mind has been blown by that revelation. It was pretty amusing to say the least, so Morty decided he might as well help out.

“Wanna practice?” he offered.

The boy next to him hesitated, his dark eyes darting to other people in the room with them. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I don’t want to upset anyone.”

“Say no more,” Morty grinned, “I know a place where there’s noone to upset. I-if you wanna give it a try.”

Steven straightened up and took a deep breath. “You know, why not.”

————

Ten minutes later, both of them walked out of a green swirling portal into a green field of grass that seemed to go on for miles. Gentle wind was blowing and when Steven looked up, he could see through the clouds and into… space?

“Where are we?” he asked, his eyes scanning the horizon to see it slightly curved. “Is this…?”

“Me and my sister like to call it Tiny Planet,” Morty nodded, taking the portal gun he had snatched from a certain scientist earlier that day to go to therapy in the first place and hiding it in his jacket, “because if you throw a frisbee hard enough here, it will circle the entire planet and come back.”

“Pfffhaha, what?? That’s ridiculous!”

“Ridiculous and, safe for us, completely free of any living beings,” the brown haired boy spread his arms and turned around for demonstration. He neglected to mention how they’ve caused mass extinction once when hiding here with his family, because Morty felt like telling that to a vegetarian who valued any and all life forms might be upsetting and while he fully supported venting via cursing, he wasn’t too eager to have any curses aimed at himself.

“This is… this is pretty cool,” he heard to his side, and when looking around, saw Steven gazing in wonder at the North Pole of the Tiny Planet.

“I thought you’ve been to space before?”

“I was. But it was always because I was solving issues. Toppling an empire, establishing new government, trying to figure out why bottled emotions made me grow, turn pink and hurt people…”

“Oh geez, that doesn’t sound fun,” Morty said, even though when he got a chance to topple an empire it was pretty fascinating. Must be a lot harder when you have to concern yourself with the debris.

“It wasn’t.” Steven sighed, and then shook his head. “Not this time, though, this time I came to space to curse at noone in particular and have fun,” he grinned, trying to look confident but immediately ruining that by adding “so uhh… how do I start?”

Morty’s amused smile turned into a mischievous grin. “Let me show you.” He reached down for a small rock, picking it up and experimentally throwing it up and catching it in his other hand. “Y’know, Steven, you should know something about my family. It’s a _fucking mess_!” he yelled suddenly and chucked the rock as hard as he could.

Steven let out a mortified gasp as he watched the rock disappear over the horizon. Then, a hand with thin long fingers tugged at his shoulder. “You really should move out of the way man,” Morty said just as the rock he’d thrown approached them at increasing speed from the other side of the planet. They both took a step aside, but it wasn’t necessary as the rock fell to the ground a good distance of where they previously stood. “Damn. Sometimes I make it all the way around,” Morty puffed. “Oh well.”

“I dunno if I can… say that.”

“What, fuck?” He could see Steven visibly tense up and it was so.. dorky. He couldn’t find another way to describe it, this guy was a dork. “Sure you can! Here, say it in a normal voice first. Your mom’s problems getting dumped on you? Fuck that. Your dad isolating you from other family members? Fuck that, too. Tormenting yourself over things you had no control and no knowledge of…?” he gestured towards Steven expectantly, who looked at him with furrowed brows and a pout.

“Fffffuck that?”

“Exactly! Fuck that!”

“Yeah! Yeah, you’re right!” Steven’s hands curled into fists as his look turned determined. Then, something occurred to him, and he said to Morty: “You… you might want to take a few steps back. When I yell, it gets destructive.”

After making sure that Morty was far enough and Steven wouldn’t have to worry about his safety, the boy in the pink jacket took a deep breath, and it felt like reaching deep inside himself for all the things he hated so much. About himself, about other people, about Pink Diamond. Things that were nonsensical and things that were justified, all the things that made him mad, made him want to tear his hair out in the middle of the night and bite his tongue so hard he’d chomp it off completely, things and thoughts that made him shatter Jasper and turn into a monster and forced him to remember that moment over and over again forever and everytime think about how many people could’ve gotten and did get hurt.

He was very aware of the pink colour spreading over his skin. _Fuck that, too,_ he thought. _Actually, fuck that in particular._

And then, he yelled.

————

“Did you hear that?”

On a neighboring planet, Stanford raised his head from the blueprint he’d been studying and adjusted his glasses. “Hear what?”

His brother, who until then had been fiddling with buttons he probably shouldn’t be fiddling with, as he had no knowledge of how to work the small spaceship they were currently sitting in and trying to jumpstart, was now staring out of a small circular window into space they had a clear view of, as the planet had no atmosphere. “I could’ve sworn I heard someone say ‘fuck’ really quietly.”

“That’s stupid, Stanley. You can’t hear sound in the vacuum of space.”

Stanley shrugged. “Fuck me then, I guess.”

————

Morty Smith stared, wide-eyed, at the cloud of dust raised by Steven’s scream. As it started to settle, he made his way over to the boy who was now glowing pink and breathing heavily. “Wow, man, that was _insane_!” he said, trying not to be worried by the fact that this absolutely overpowered alien/human hybrid hidden behind fluffy hair and soft expressions was going to the same therapy sessions as him. “L-like I think the whole planet shook a little! Are all your powers like tha– whoa, are you okay?” he asked when he saw how tense Steven still was, but as he did, the pink colour finally drained from his face and hair. “Uhh… Steven? You’re not gonna like… explode or something now, are you?”

To his surprise, Steven laughed. He dusted himself off like what just happened was nothing, and laughed some more. “What do you know, you were right! That felt… incredible, I’ve got to admit.”

Sighing with relief, Morty laughed too. “Yeah, it looked like you needed to blow off some steam.”

“When do I _not_ need that, honestly?” he grinned. “Wouldn’t be in therapy otherwise.”

“I’m glad you are, though.” Steven raised a brow at that comment, so Morty hurried to add: “B-because I got to meet you, you know? An-and you’re really cool, so it’s good you’re getting the help you need, because you’ll be both cool _and_ happy!”

“Aw. That’s really nice of you to say. I’m glad I got to meet you, too!” Steven said, giving the warmest of smiles and it made Morty think that the universe just got a little brighter. This guy would spread happiness everywhere he went once he got out of therapy, and probably sooner, and if Morty’s experience was anything to go by, this bitter dark world would need a lot of that happiness.

“W-well, we better head back,” he said finally. “Unless you want a round two of that.”

“No, we should probably head back.”

As they stepped through the portal Morty created and onto the pavement of their own planet, Steven asked: “Hey… would it be okay if we hung out like this again? I mean obviously therapy helps a lot, but sometimes…” He trailed off, not sure how to word his thoughts.

“Yeah, when the anger’s irrational, we can go scream into the void on the Tiny Planet,” Morty nodded with more enthusiasm than he thought he’d ever express for this person of all the group therapy attendees.

“Thanks, Morty. Hey,” he took Morty around the shoulders and _aha, there’s the jock aura again_ , “I guess we need to thank Mabel later, huh?”

“Y-yeah,” he replied, unsure of how to react to the arm crushing his shoulder. “She’s a natural matchmaker, I guess… Uhh, a-as in, friend matchmaker, I mean,” he corrected himself awkwardly. Steven didn’t seem to notice the awkwardness at all.

“Well, see you at the next session, friend,” he let go of him, waved goodbye, and as Morty mumbled a goodbye back, Steven disappeared around the corner.

————

Upon stepping out of a portal into his house, Morty was immediately welcomed by sounds of chaos coming from their garage. Barely cracking the door open to make sure he wouldn’t let any rogue aliens into the house, he saw his grandpa frantically looking around for something while swearing up a storm. He could only assume the thing he was looking for was currently in Morty’s pocket.

“Um… hi Rick… are you looking for your portal gun?” he asked carefully, mentally preparing for getting yelled at once again.

“No! Summer let a fuckin’ rat into the house and it’s running amok my inventions and I can’t find it but I swear I can hear it– Wait, where the hell have you been anyways?”

“Uh… the group therapy thing. And then I hung out with a friend after the session,” Morty replied, putting the portal gun back on the shelf where he found it while Rick wasn’t looking.

“One of the Pines’ kids? Did they say how Ford’s been doing lately? I heard him and Stanley were planning some space trips a few months back…” his grandpa said while half lost in the darkness of one of his cabinets and reaching his hand into the furthest corner of the shelf.

“No, nono, but actually, maybe you’ve heard of this guy, his name’s Steven Universe?”

Rick flinched so hard he hit his head on the roof of the cabinet, and looked back at Morty with genuine interest, something rare when it came to Rick of all people. “No shit, Steven fucking Universe? The gem prince?”

“I- I don’t think he’s a prince…”

“He’s a legend! The guy who solves problems with a song and it actually fucking works?! You think you could invite him sometime, Morty?”

Morty narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Because you wanna meet my friend or because he’s a half alien with a rock stuck in his body?”

“Hey one or two experiments aren’t gonna kill him you know–”

“You’re not doing experiments on my friend, Rick!”

————

Somewhere else, a boy with curly, raven black hair was video-chatting with his own family, and all three gems talking to him were delighted when he mentioned he made a new friend. Well, until Steven accidentally dropped his phone.

“Fuck,” he uttered quietly.

From the other end of the call, a collective horrified gasp could be heard. “ _STEVEN!_ ”


End file.
